in other news, been looking at getting a skiff for a while now. of course there are a lot in town, but the ones in my price range always have something that puts me off. then i found this gem. i would probably get a new motor, but the thing looks to be in great shape and has a lot of cool features for a skiff this size. hard cabin, two seater, storage underneath the bow in front of the cabin, storage space up front on deck, bench in the back, fishing rod rack, outboard is sort of wrapped in but is not quite a drop through style of some other skiffs, and when i was checking it out, it seems it even has its own bilge pump which i don't think i've ever seen on a skiff. making some phone calls and we'll see where this goes. hopefully it's legit and it works out....

not sure on that skiff anymore. turns out it's just a converted lund hull, which is fine, but it's real top heavy and needs bumper floaty things, the outboard is a junker but runs well enough, remote steering/throttle weren't hooked up and it'll be some work/money to get that together, not to mention i'd want a nicer motor, then get a kicker, then get a trailer... so i've decided to find a skiff package, which is fairly common in town so i should be able to get something within 5k fairly soon.

anyway.... walked out fish creek before dinner.. one of our favorite spots just a few miles down the road. salmon are spawning and there are tons of carcasses everywhere, as well as near-dead fish swimming upstream. the ones we caught were still in good shape, though.

thanks man! gotta give credit to nature as usual. on the other side of the creek is a real nice trail that goes out to the little point there (trees in the upper left of the second photo), which is one of our favorite spots to take the dog.

back on the boat train, i may have found the one, if all works out. i posted what i was looking for on facebook, and one of my little skater buddies that i know from the shop told me about his family's skiff they're selling. 16ft lund with a trailer, 40hp outboard, canvas top, bench seats all the way through, set up to have a depth sounder installed, comes with downriggers (attachments can be seen in the rear), and there's a net, gaff, life jackets, and a couple other things that are in there (not sure if they're included). he said he thinks his dad wants 5k for it, which is on par, and it's the cleanest package i've looked at yet. motor is the cleanest too.. still a little older, but sometimes those older 2 strokes are the ones that last the longest.

Went fishing in Santa Barbara off the pier but nothing was really biting plus a big ass great white shark was spotted by the pier as well so maybe that's why. In the end, we only caught one fish and 3 crabs and was given 1 spider crab and a sting ray.

I'm so jealous. I wish I could fish for a bunch of different species. We have quality trout and decent pike fishing but the rest of the species here are mediocre compared to other places. Too cold for bass to grow quality size faster than they get harvested. We can grow some decent cats and walleyes but they are few and far between and the variety of fish isn't really here

got two more options today. a friend of mine that i've known my whole life has a 16ft lund wide model, 50hp outboard, brand new kicker, steering console, and a couple other goodies. test drove it today and it felt great. i dig the blue VS red (not that it matters) and i like the overall look and layout of this one the most. the flat floor is nice, and the design is more open for moving around. he wants $4800 for this package, which is a good deal. comes with trailer too.

my dad called me back after i talked to him about this one, and someone at his work (fish & game) has an 18ft lund with trailer. almost the same package, but the kicker is seized or something and would need work. the thing is, he only wants 2k for it. had it since he's lived in juneau and just hasn't used it much over the last bunch of years, so wants to move it quick for a good price. if everything works, it's kind of a no brainer. my dad is pushing the larger size on me cause it's safer, more stable, and nice to have the space. by saving $2800 vs the blue one, i could buy a new kicker and the couple other things i'd want, and still be under budget. going to check it out more tonight.

it's down to these two. i like my buddy's the most, but for the price of the 18ft and size increase, it's a tough call. it would be great to save the money, but we'll see.

first one is the 16ft, second is the 18ft. it's covered in spruce needles and whatnot, but with a quick clean up, it'll be looking good.

got out twice this year down in jersey and only managed to catch a pretty good sized eel... the first time we went for striper but the current was way to hard, and the second we went for flounder, but flounder in the bays in jersey is very tough but since i moved to rhode island ive been very busy with work and haven't been able to get out much... i go back to school next week so my season is over. next time ill get out a lot more considering im 2 miles from the beach! ill land some big stripers for you guys! heres a pic of my crappy eel... It was about 2 to 2 and a half feet long... Im 6'3 and its right next to my leg. I'll post some other pics from the trip as well.

well, i picked a boat. truly a smoking deal thanks to my dad's friend. drove it around today.. outboard and kicker run smooth. a couple little things to be done, but no biggie. so stoked to finally have a boat!

in the works... work the steering in with grease, replace the motor for outboard tilt, get a depth sounder, gps plotter, safety/first aid stuff, cleats, rod holders, downriggers, and finally a nice custom built canvas canopy top like that other red lund i posted. gonna be under budget and get the most out of any of the boat options i've looked at.

Man every time I see your pictures spenser I get jealous. We were suppose to head up there this summer but my wife was laid off by her school district (hired back now) so we didn't want to shell out a bunch of cash not knowing about her job and all. Without ever even being there and just checking out your site I could totally see buying a small place up there and spending many months of the year there.

if/when it happens, let me know, and i can play tourguide. the best way to experience this place is to do it yourself, with the help of locals who are not employed by the tourism industry. now that i have a boat, i can throw fishing and island camping/exploring into the mix....

Nice boat spenser. I'd like to convince my dad to get another boat... i loved our old one... and now that were in Rhode Island i wish we still had it even more... plus this surf fishin thing aint workin out...

Luckily I have been fishing 3 weekends in a row. (which is a feat because I fish about 3.5 hours away from DC, in DE) Wife has caught a few Sheepshead. This has her hooked! Which is the reason we are able to go so often. We are trying again this weekend for some more sheepshead, flounder and puppy drum. woot!!!!

maiden voyage today, finally. the day i finished the motor was the last nice weather day for the most part, so we'd just been waiting on that. everything went great... so stoked. cruised around, casted and trolled a little (no catch), drank some sockeye IPA from a brewery up in anchorage, saw whales breaching... it was great.

we brought the arnette skylights along to get a shot for the review video we're doing on those and the oakley canopy, hence jeremy wearing goggles

lunds are a staple here.. it seems everyone owns one at some point in their lifetime, and they last forever if you aren't careless. i'm only the second owner of this one + the motors, so that's pretty nice. as far as i know, they're actually meant to be midwest lake fishing boats, haha. then again, a lot of people from the midwest move to alaska.

Damn, that's a hell of a view. Is that part of the city in the middle-ground or residential?

From what I can grasp from details spenser has posted over time, and looking at a map, I am guessing that is just residential with the University of Alaska Southeast to the right of it. Then even further to the right, maybe a 3 miles would be the Juneau airport, then another 5 miles or so would be downtown Juneau. But that's just me guessing and being bored on google earth

Stunning pictures though spenser. Looks like a chill time. Any plans on getting one of those fancy vinyl see through covers to help deal with the wind biting you out on the water at speed?

the wind is fine, it's just extra cold when it's already cold. other than that it doesn't bother me. i would only get a cover for rougher days when you're getting spray coming into the boat. i'm most likely just going to make a little plexiglass windshield for the steering console.

i'm not sure of the question though. city vs residential? people live in every part of juneau and it's all considered the city & borough of juneau. the place you see there is auke bay harbor, and most of the visible buildings are business related. the red roof in the middle is deharts, the little harbor store/gas station. couple harbor buildings, couple businesses.. not sure any of those are houses.

the university is in the forest up behind the visible harbor and buildings. it's between auke bay and auke lake, if you are looking at a map.

the road toward downtown goes to the right. you'd be right, it's about 3 miles to the airport or to my shop, and about 7-8 miles from there to downtown. juneau is a unique place in that it's all spread out. i believe it's actually the largest single city/borough area in the US, or one of them? it's almost like 3-4 separate little towns like you would see down south. the landscape allows for a lot of building in some areas, and not much in others. downtown is on a big outcrop of land at the base of a mountain, then it's the highway for a few miles along the water and base of a mountain, then a big opening goes deep into more mountains which is where a lot of people are.. then there's more driving along the base of mountains, and then it opens up into the mendenhall valley carved by the glacier, which is probably where most of the population is. auke bay is a little further. there is also douglas island where a lot of people live, which is is in the opposite direction from downtown, compared to heading out to auke bay. kind of hard to explain. it takes a long time to really orient yourself with how it's all set up, hah.

i'm not sure of the question though. city vs residential? people live in every part of juneau and it's all considered the city & borough of juneau. the place you see there is auke bay harbor, and most of the visible buildings are business related. the red roof in the middle is deharts, the little harbor store/gas station. couple harbor buildings, couple businesses.. not sure any of those are houses.

the university is in the forest up behind the visible harbor and buildings. it's between auke bay and auke lake, if you are looking at a map.

the road toward downtown goes to the right. you'd be right, it's about 3 miles to the airport or to my shop, and about 7-8 miles from there to downtown. juneau is a unique place in that it's all spread out. i believe it's actually the largest single city/borough area in the US, or one of them? it's almost like 3-4 separate little towns like you would see down south. the landscape allows for a lot of building in some areas, and not much in others. downtown is on a big outcrop of land at the base of a mountain, then it's the highway for a few miles along the water and base of a mountain, then a big opening goes deep into more mountains which is where a lot of people are.. then there's more driving along the base of mountains, and then it opens up into the mendenhall valley carved by the glacier, which is probably where most of the population is. auke bay is a little further. there is also douglas island where a lot of people live, which is is in the opposite direction from downtown, compared to heading out to auke bay. kind of hard to explain. it takes a long time to really orient yourself with how it's all set up, hah.

I'm used to the "country" out east so I meant was it mostly businesses (Besides the port). but I love how you have insane landscapes all throughout the area. When you walk out of work you probably see a view I dream of hah. I still plan on heading up there, I might have to make a stop in Oregon for a season before though to raise some funds.

i see the same mountains in that picture. i took this picture of them on sunday before i got in my car outside the shop.. the jagged peaks to the left are the mendenhall towers, which are legendary in the history of big mountain snowboarding. pretty rad to be an avid snowboarder and see that every single day.

got out again today. took out my two new friends from tennessee/NC who moved here for snowboarding, in hopes of getting them a whale sighting or two. no whales (i think they're heading south for the winter about now), but we had great weather and got to check out a pod of porpoises for a while, as well as sea lion easy loungin' in the sun. can't complain....

Wow, those are some nice catches alright. Definitely looks like some good fishing going on in Texas. I'm kinda disappointed I haven't been able to fish in a while. Gonna have to hit up lake Michigan for some perch fishing soon.

Those are some Fatty Bass. I like fishing for trout with my buddies because we're not to great at fishing and trout are pretty easy fish to catch in Oregon. Its nice to come home victorious every time we set out fishing.

Thread revival time! Got out for the first trout slaying session of the year and it was a great success! Shortly into our float I pulled this chromey beauty out of a nice little hole... crushed my peacock colored skwala.

Can't wait to get back out.. hopefully this week sometime after work. One gear whoring season ends and another begins... GREAT. Celebrated after the pulling the first fish into the boat by pulling in a second and then cracking open a trout slayer courtesy of Big Sky Brewery here in town. A few of you may have stumbled across their Moose Drool or Summer Honey.. pretty widely distributed stuff. I know I've had a Moose Drool in the Bridgetender down on the shores of ol Tahoe.

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